


The Picture of Peter Parker

by Optimistique



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst and Fluff, Avengers: Endgame, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Endgame fix it, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Deserves Better, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony doesn't die, because forget that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 15:34:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18694312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Optimistique/pseuds/Optimistique
Summary: "He doesn’t realize he’s crying until a tear falls on the glass.  He rubs it off with his sleeve.  The Peter in the picture is so happy.  Was so excited to be receiving the internship title, so that he could officially put on his college applications what he was already doing anyway: building things in the lab with Tony Stark.  They saw each other almost weekly, by the end.'I can’t do this', Tony thinks, gazing at the young face.  He can’t recall the good memories without immediately remembering what that face looked like as he panicked on Titan, and then the resignation that crossed his features as he died.He has to put the picture back face down."A look into those five years Tony spent without the boy who he had come to view as a son.  Complete with an alternate ending for Avengers: Endgame.





	The Picture of Peter Parker

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Português brasileiro available: [A Foto de Peter Parker](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20428181) by [ImperfectBeliever](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImperfectBeliever/pseuds/ImperfectBeliever)



> This work is written in a different style than I normally use. I usually stay away from present tense. But this story is not meant to re-narrate things that we already know happened in Avengers: Endgame. Instead, it serves as snapshots in time to help fill in the gaps and offer an alternate (better) outcome. Hope you enjoy!

Just as soon as he’s cleared from the hospital and has gained back enough weight to wear a tux again, they get married. Tony’s done waiting. He never should have waited this long in the first place. He’s reminded now, more than ever, that there are no guarantees about tomorrow. They do not have the big wedding they planned. It feels inappropriate now that the world is reeling from loss. They hire a justice of the peace and say their vows in front of Rhodey and Happy only. She still wears her dress and looks amazing.

She’s pregnant a month later. Tony’s terrified at first. Before he left for space, he had been warming up the thought of kids, almost like a new idea that wouldn’t leave his mind. He hadn’t acknowledged it at the time, but now he realized it was because of Peter. He had gotten practice feeling something close to a father, and he found he liked it. Now, all he can think about when Pepper tells him is the way Peter clung to him in his final moments, like the child he was, begging for his mentor to save him from a death Tony had failed to stop. What if he fails again? If Tony lost another kid, he would never come back. He would be utterly and completely destroyed.

So he does the best thing he can think of. He disappears into obscurity. He leaves the city, buys a small cabin in the middle of nowhere, cuts back on his possessions dramatically.

He lets Iron Man disappear.

Because if Iron Man is gone, Iron Man’s enemies won’t come for his family. Iron Man was a failure anyway. Maybe Tony Stark could be better.

They get the cabin set up, complete with a room for their upcoming daughter. It’s Pepper who puts out the framed picture of Tony and Peter. Tony’s knees give out on him the first time he sees it. He picks it up with shaking hands and looks at the pair of them, giving each other bunny ears as they hold up the Stark Industries Internship certificate, intentionally upside down. They’d taken a serious shot too, for the company newsletter, but Peter had insisted on a “funny pic.” This is the one Pepper chose to frame.

He doesn’t realize he’s crying until a tear falls on the glass. He rubs it off with his sleeve. The Peter in the picture is so happy. Was so excited to be receiving the internship title, so that he could officially put on his college applications what he was already doing anyway: building things in the lab with Tony Stark. They saw each other almost weekly, by the end.

_I can’t do this_ , Tony thinks, gazing at the young face. He can’t recall the good memories without immediately remembering what that face looked like as he panicked on Titan, and then the resignation that crossed his features as he died.

He has to put the picture back face down.

Pepper must realize that he’s not ready for it yet, because the next time he finds the picture, it’s been moved to the garage. The problem is, Tony’s setting up the garage as a workshop. Nothing large scale. Nothing like his old labs. Just a space to tinker when his hands get too restless or his mind needs a distraction. He’s just finished setting up his equipment when he sees it, the glass on the frame reflecting the screens’ blue light. Peter’s smiling at him, just like he used to on their lab days.

“What do you think, Pete?” he hears himself say to the picture. “Not quite what it used to be, but we’ll make it work.”

That’s how it starts. He makes off hand comments to the picture while he works, like he used to in another lifetime to the real boy. Picture Peter can’t answer back, of course, but Tony can often imagine exactly what he’d say in his teenage, chipper voice.

_That looks good, Mr. Stark! What would happen if you tweaked the power output?_

“You know, I was just thinking that myself. Better watch that, Underoos. I can’t have you surpassing me just yet.”

He knows it’s crazy. He knows it’s just a way to work through his grief. But he’s not used to working alone anymore. Being able to voice his thoughts helps.

After Morgan is born, the picture starts coming with him more places than the garage. Tony takes it with him to do chores, sometimes. He just has to tell Peter how adorable his baby is. Seriously, how did he ever create something that perfect?

“Did you know she laughed for the first time today?” he says to Picture Peter while doing dishes one afternoon. “It was the most amazing sound. ...God, you would have loved her.”

He puts Picture Peter on a shelf in Morgan’s room late one night as he’s trying to get her to go back to sleep. He’s tried feeding her and changing her and walking with her, but he refuses to wake up Pepper because his wife deserves a break and it’s his turn anyway. When the walking and shushing don’t help calm the baby, he tries talking to her.

“You see that, Morgan?” he says, motioning to the picture with his head. “That’s Peter. He would have loved you tons and tons. He would have said something like, ‘Mr. Stark, how did you make such a pretty baby? Oh that’s right. It’s because you married Ms. Potts.’”

Morgan stops crying and looks up at him with wide eyes when he uses his “Peter voice.” Tony cracks a smile. “Yeah, you like that? He would say, ‘Morgan, you are the most beautiful, smartest baby in the world! Look at your tiny toes! How’d you get so cute!’”

Morgan smiles too. Then it’s Tony who’s crying, but his tears are silent. He puts his daughter down for the night. He leaves the picture in her room. Before going out the door, he taps the glass and whispers, “Watch over her for me, alright bud?” His thumb lingers over Peter’s smiling face.

 

There are rough patches, sometimes. This one comes on Peter’s birthday. Morgan is two years old, and Peter would have been twenty. He would have been in college by now. Probably on full scholarships for his brilliance. Surpassing them all. Tony spends most of the day in the workshop, but he doesn’t really work on anything.

Morgan finds him just after her naptime. Her little sneakers patter on the concrete floor as she comes up behind him. She knows she’s not allowed in the garage without shoes. Tony tries to school his expression before she reaches him, but she’s too smart. Too perceptive for a toddler. It’s the Stark genes. She sees through his fake smile and climbs up on his lap without a word.

Her tiny hand pats his chest. “S’okay Daddy,” she comforts, though she doesn’t understand what’s wrong.

Tony hugs her tightly. He doesn’t deserve her. Not after losing the first one. She points at the picture of Peter that’s sitting on the table in front of them. “Use your Petah Voice,” she insists.

“Not today, Pepperony,” he replies through a dry throat.

Apparently, Morgan decides to take matters into her own hands. “‘Misser Stark!’” she croons in a comically high voice. “‘Don’ be sad, Misser Stark! Spider-man will save you!’”

Tony lets out a wet laugh. Peter would have laughed so hard at her already high voice changing pitch to imitate him. Not really him, though. To imitate how Tony always makes him sound. She’d never hear his real voice. Unless…

“You know what? I think it’s time we watch some videos together. FRIDAY? Pull up old logs from the Spider suit.”

“ _Are you sure, Boss?_ ” the AI asks cautiously. Even she knows these have not been played since before. Tony’s heart is hammering, but God, it’s been three years already. He should be able to do this. With Morgan tucked into him like a safety blanket, they watch some of Spider-Man’s exploits, and Tony tells her about the late webslinger.

“That’s Petah?” she asks in awe.

“Yeah. That’s him,” Tony croaks.

Spider-Man is her new favorite superhero.

 

Peter’s picture moves into the kitchen permanently when Morgan complains that she can’t see it all the time. She must have picked up on Tony’s habit of mumbling to it when he thought no one could hear, because he catches her talking quietly to Picture Peter on more than one occasion. What all they talk about, he doesn’t know. It feels wrong to eavesdrop on his kids.

One night, after Morgan has just turned four, she brings the picture to bed with her and sets it on her nightstand. “That’s my brother,” she says matter-of-factly.

Tony freezes as he’s tucking her in. “What makes you say that?”

“‘Cause you love him. Tons and tons.”

Being a parent has opened his eyes to how amazing kids really are. The unique way in which they see the world. Morgan doesn’t know, biologically, what makes a person a father to another person. But she can clearly see the part that matters. She knows what adults often fail to grasp: that it’s not always flesh and blood that makes a family.

“Yeah, kiddo,” he whispers. It’s the first time he’s used that nickname since Peter. “Tons and tons.”

 

Cap shows up on his doorstep a few months later. He has Scott Lang with him, who they all thought was one of the Vanished, but apparently had spent the last five years stuck in the Quantum Realm. They propose something that Tony won’t let himself believe. Time travel. A chance to bring them all back. It isn’t fair to rekindle that kind of hope. He’s not in the business of taking risks anymore. He has to protect the only family he has left. He tells them, politely, to shove it.

But his head starts running equations the minute they leave. He doesn’t think it’s possible, but what if it is? He spends the rest of the day fighting with himself, weighing the risk. Picture Peter is in his customary spot in the kitchen, watching Tony do the dishes after dinner.

_What if it were Morgan?_ Picture Peter whispers. _If it were Morgan who crumbled to dust, would you take a risk to get her back?_

Tony picks up the picture, staring at it thoughtfully. _“If it were Morgan,”_ he answers silently, _“nothing in the universe could stop me from trying to get her back.”_

_Am I any different?_ Picture Peter asks.

Tony’s stomach clenches. _“No. No you’re not.”_

He supposes it wouldn’t hurt just to run some simulations. It’s probably a moot point anyway. He works through some with FRIDAY. And—holy shit—they create a successful model. This might actually be feasible.

Later, after he puts Morgan back to bed and talks to Pepper about what he found, he sits in the garage, holding Picture Peter with shaky hands. There’s so much to do. He has a lot of things to gather up before he drives to the compound. The team is going to need new suits to keep them safe in the Quantum Realm. He needs to dig out Cap’s shield. He needs to triple check his math. But he can’t seem to get his legs to move. He takes a trembling breath.

“We’re going to try, Pete,” Tony whispers. “I’m going to try. Please, just...give me one more chance.”

 

They get the stones, but not without great loss. Natasha gave her life so that everyone else could get theirs back. There’s no room for mistakes now. The cost is too high. Tony can only hope it’s all been worth it.

Hulk-Bruce puts on the new gauntlet. It’s trying to kill him, that much is clear, but he fights. He snaps his fingers. They think it worked, but they don’t have a chance to be sure before everything goes to hell.

It isn’t until Thanos’ army comes in full force and death seems imminent that portals start opening up. Dozens of them. T’Challa steps through one. Wanda comes through another. Person after person that vanished five years ago makes a miraculous reappearance. Then a sparking circle materializes and out steps Dr. Strange. With the background of Titan behind him, he is soon joined by Quill and the other Guardians that had died. And then a familiar red and blue suit swings in front of them and…and…

And Tony can’t breathe.

Peter finds him on the battlefield a few minutes later. He helps him stand up. “Holy cow!” the boy gushes with wild eyes. “You will not believe what’s been going on!”

Tony can’t listen to the words leaving his mouth a mile a minute because his brain has short circuited. He stares at Peter the same way he stared at Morgan the day she was born—like he’s the most wonderful gift he’s ever been given. His kid is here, he’s talking, he’s three-dimensional, and he’s alive. Everything he’s longed for in the past five years is in front of him, a babbling ball of teenage energy.

God, had Peter always been so young? At that moment, Tony could hardly see the age difference between Peter and Morgan. Both just kids, with round baby faces, brown eyes looking at Tony for guidance.

As soon as he can convince his legs to move, Tony surges forward and pulls Peter strongly to his chest. The boy stops talking, tentatively returning the hug. Tony realizes that he had never hugged Peter so properly before, so it must be disconcerting. He vows to make it habit from here on out. He looks up toward Heaven as his eyes burn, trying not to let the tears fall.

He has so many things he wants to say. Things he’s held inside all these years. But just like he had no words when Peter was dying, he has no words for his return. Some feelings just run too deep to be expressed verbally. He hopes he can convey that by tightening his grip. He thinks Peter gets it, because he squeezes too and says, “This is nice.”

Tony smiles. The battle is still raging around them. It’s not over yet. But all of it seems worth it just for this moment. He’s been given a second chance.

 

Thanos is going to take everything away. Not just half. Everyone. Morgan, Peter, Pepper. Tony catches Dr. Strange’s eye and sees him hold up one finger. There’s only one option left. Tony knows what he has to do. He hopes his family will forgive him.

Thanos grabs the gauntlet from him, but Tony’s already removed the stones. The nanites of his suit form around them on the back of his hand, holding them in place. The power surging down his arm is excruciating. He doesn’t have long to do this.

But suddenly, someone’s hand is on his shoulder and the pain lessens by a fraction. He moves his head just enough to see that it’s Quill. The energy from the stones is flowing through Tony’s shoulder and into Star Lord’s hand. He screws up his face against the pain, but doesn’t let go. The other Guardians—and a walking tree?—appear out of nowhere, quickly reaching to touch either Tony or Quill. It’s like they know exactly what to do, like they’ve done this before. The power is dispersing between them. But it’s not nearly enough.

The other Avengers move swiftly. They must have realized what’s happening. Steve is there in an instant, hanging onto Tony’s right arm. Bruce joins him, and Scott, and Clint, and Thor, and Carol. With each person that joins the chain, Tony is relieved of a little more pain. T’Challa and all of his troops form an interlocking web behind them. It must be a spectacle, all that light traveling through so many bodies. Thanos is watching, but with all six Infinity Stones right in front of him, ready to be used at any moment, there isn’t much he can do.

Finally, Pepper lands in front of him in her gleaming blue armor. Peter flips in from overhead so that he stands beside her. They both crouch in front of Tony and place a hand on either of his knees where he kneels on the scorched ground. Their cries of pain hurt worse than his own. But between so many people, superpowered and otherwise, the pain is bearable.

Tony looks Thanos dead in the eyes. “And we...are...the Avengers.”

He snaps his fingers. Everything goes white before his eyes. Fire travels up his arm and consumes his body. He can hear people screaming, distantly. He’s too overwhelmed to make a noise.

 

“Mr. Stark?” is the first thing he hears. He doesn’t know how long it’s been. “Mr. Stark, please!” Peter is crying. “We won, you did it! Tony, I’m sorry…”

“FRIDAY?” That’s Pepper’s voice.

He must still have his earpiece in because he hears his AI respond, _“Boss has suffered third degree burns and has severe nerve damage in his right arm. But his heartbeat is steady.”_

Tony cracks his eyes open just enough to tell that he’s laying on the ground with Pepper, Peter, and Rhodey kneeling around him. He makes eye contact with all of their teary, smiling faces. They each look worse for wear. Pale. He wonders if the stones did damage to everyone. His gaze lands on Peter, who’s both laughing and crying. He’s gripping his mentor’s good hand in both of his own.

Slowly, even though it sends knife-like sensations all down his left arm, Tony raises his hand to cup Peter’s face. Peter helps him hold it there. “Kid…” he croaks out. His throat feels raw.

“Hey, Mr. Stark,” Peter responds with a tremor in his voice.

_I missed you,_ Tony wants to say. _I love you_. His mouth moves sluggishly, but his vocal chords don’t cooperate.

“It’s okay,” Pepper tells him gently. “We’re all okay. You can rest now.”

He trusts her implicitly, so he shuts his eyes and lets unconsciousness take him away.

 

The next time he wakes, it’s once again to the sound of Peter talking. But Tony’s far more comfortable this time. His head feels like it’s stuffed with cotton. They must have him on some heavy drugs. It takes a lot of effort to focus in on what Peter is saying.

“Turns out most of them Vanished too, so I’m still in school with a lot of my friends. Ned and MJ are there, which is awesome, but Flash still is too, which sucks. It feels weird to be back though. Especially when half of the kids I knew are like 22 and in college now. It’s insane.

“You know what? I even found a memorial to Spider-Man in Queens. I can’t believe they’d remember me when so many other people disappeared at the same time! I took a selfie with it yesterday. I’ll show you when you wake up.”

It’s at that point that it dawns on Tony that Peter isn’t talking to some other occupant in the room; he’s talking to his unconscious mentor. Just like Tony used to talk to the picture.

“You gotta wake up soon though, Mr. Stark. They said you’re recovering. You’re breathing on your own now and everything. ...The school is already planning a summer trip to Europe. But I’m not gonna go if you’re not...if you’re still…” Peter sniffles.

That pinches his heart enough to crack through the haziness. With effort, he peels his eyes open. “You should go,” he whispers. It comes out like sandpaper on wood.

Peter jumps up from the plush chair at his bedside. “Mr. Stark!”

Tony drinks in the sight of his face. “Hey, Kid.”

Peter fidgets, suddenly nervous. “Hey. How, um, how are you? Oh! I should probably call a nurse.” He reaches over Tony to hit the call button attached to the bed.

Tony smacks dry lips. “How about some water?”

“Oh, sure!” Peter jumps into motion. “Just a sec, I’ll get you some.”

Tony’s head follows him across the room to the sink and that’s when he notices his own shoulder from the corner of his eye. He immediately starts, his body going rigid, and lets out a swear word he would not say around Morgan.

Because his right arm is gone. Just, completely gone.

And yeah, he’s panicking a little bit. Peter drops the cup of water. “It’s okay Mr. Stark! I mean, it’s not okay, but—”

The door to his hospital room flies open and Pepper rushes in, followed by a nurse. “Tony!” his wife cries as she drops down to his side. “It’s alright. You’re alright. Take a deep breath.”

He tries. He attempts to calm his stuttering heart as he studies the familiar lines of her face. She raises his hand—his only hand—to her lips and kisses his knuckles as she strokes his hair.

“I’m so sorry, Honey,” she says calmly, but Tony is good at hearing the fear behind her composure by now. “I gave them permission to do the procedure. We had to act fast. You fell into a coma and your arm was beyond repair. They said there was no time to wait until you woke up. It could have killed you.”

“Okay...yeah okay.” Tony processes the information as he takes steadying breaths. Logically, he gets it. He knew the arm was bad. He wasn’t expecting to survive using the stones at all. One arm seems like a small price to pay for what they gained. He knows that. It’s just...a shock. “I get it, Pep. It’s okay,” he assures her. “It’ll just take some getting used to.”

She smiles down a him. “King T’Challa has already offered to make you a vibranium prosthetic.”

Tony scoffs at that. “I think I can handle building my own.”

She laughs, a wonderful, freeing sound. “Of course you can.”

The nurse asks him questions about his pain levels as she adjusts his IV and makes notes on his chart. She warns him that she’s about to feed more painkillers into his line and that it will probably make him drowsy. He just nods, because his throat is still dry. He’s about to ask for some water again when he suddenly remembers who was fetching it the first time.

Tony tries to sit up, but is immediately held down by both the nurse and Pepper.

“We need you to stay still Mr. Stark,” the nurse explains sternly. “You’re not ready to be up yet.”

“Where’s Peter?” he croaks, looking at Pepper. He doesn’t know how to explain to her the irrational fear that grips him at the thought of letting Peter out of his sight. He knows he won’t turn to dust again. He knows Thanos is gone. But losing him once was enough for a lifetime. He’s not ready to let him go farther than arm’s length yet.

“He slipped out while we were talking,” she tells him in the same calming tone she uses when she assures Morgan there are no monsters in her closet.

Tony tries to look past her to the door from his prone position. “Why?”

“I think he just wanted to give you a minute to adjust. You know how polite he is.”

Great. Tony probably scared him. He wished the kid hadn’t seen his freak out, justified as it may have been. He can feel the drugs starting to kick in and the world gets blurry again. “He ok?”

“He’s fine,” Pepper confirms, rubbing his hair again. “You just relax. He’s being taken care of.”

_But_ I _want to take care of him_ , Tony wants to say, even though he knows he’s in no condition to take care of anyone right now. The painkillers take over, and he drifts away.

 

Peter’s not there when he wakes up again. This time, Happy sits in the chair beside him, reading something on his Stark Pad. He looks up when he hears Tony shift his position. “Hey, Boss,” he says with a smile.

“Where’s Peter?” Tony asks sluggishly. He should have been back by now, right?

“Ouch. Okay, I see where I stand,” Happy responds dryly. “It’s a weekday. He’s at school.”

“Oh.” Tony must have been out longer than he realized. And school? Really? The government is already sending the Vanished kids back? Of course, he suddenly realizes, he has no idea how long it’s actually been since they were brought back. “How long I been out?” he asks.

“You mean total? About three weeks.”

“Oh,” Tony says again. Anxiety prickles at his chest. That was longer than he thought. “What happened? Is everyone okay? How’s Morgan?”

Happy’s smile is soft. He’s always had a weak spot for Morgan. “She’s good, Tony. Asks about you a lot. But she understands that you were hurt while saving the world and that you’re in the hospital getting better. Oh, that reminds me.” He reaches into the pocket of his jacket and pulls out a folded piece of paper. He opens it and hands it to Tony. “She wanted me to give you this.”

Tony takes the paper, fighting the wetness in his eyes. Morgan has drawn two figures with crayon. One is clearly a little girl with dark hair and the other is a crude rendition of Iron Man in red and yellow. Across the top and onto the side of the picture, she wrote (with only a couple backwards letters), “Daddy you’re my hero.”

“You see this?” Tony says, brandishing the paper. “My kid’s a genius! Four years old and writing in complete sentences. She even used the contraction! I want this framed. I want it right here by my bed and then when I get home it’s going in my living room.”

Happy laughs. “I’m sure that can be arranged. Peter’s the one who helped her with the contraction.”

Tony stills. They’d already met? And he missed it? His heart sinks. “He did?”

“Yep. Those two took to each other right away. It was like Morgan already knew exactly who he was.”

Of course she did. She’s known about her big brother her whole life. Tony just wanted to be there to see it. He sighs, leaning farther into his pillows. “I want to go home, Hap.”

His friend pats his shoulder. “Should be soon.”

He’s able to distract himself the rest of the time he’s awake by listening to Happy’s updates on the rest of the team and the world at large. Having half of humanity suddenly return has caused some issues with people trying to return to political positions that are no longer available to them. But overall, there’s a sense of euphoria that, for the first time ever, the entire world is sharing.

Happy confirms that none of the other Avengers were hurt by the Infinity Stones. They were all drained after the battle, but no lasting damage was done to anyone beside Tony. He tells him that the Cap has returned the stones to their timelines, then goes quiet for a moment as though deciding whether or not to share something else. He must choose not to, because he moves on to explain that the reunited Guardians have left the planet, taking Thor with them. Carol has also left, and everyone else is beginning to fall back into their routines. The rubble that used to be the Compound is being cleared away. They’re waiting for Tony to recover before they discuss rebuilding it.

“How’s Peter handling being back?” he asks as he feels his eyes grow heavy. “He adjusting?”

Happy looks thoughtful for a moment before answering, which causes Tony’s brow to crease. “I think so. Mostly. He’s been a little quiet. And...he’s been dodging Pepper’s invitations to come see you.”

Tony hates that this is the last thing he hears before he falls asleep.

 

He starts asking for Peter every day after that. He’s getting a little desperate. “Just let me talk to him,” he begs Pepper. “Give me a phone or my watch or something and let me call him.”

“He needs time, Tony,” she tells him. “He’s still getting used to the fact that he’s missed five years. Don’t push him. Let him come to you when he’s ready.”

That’s not an easy thing to do when his mind is constantly running through scenarios in which Peter is depressed, or is angry with him for some reason, or is maybe scared of him now. Oh God. What if he’s hurt and hasn’t told anyone because he doesn’t want them to worry? It would hardly be the first time. Tony knows May is with Peter, and he’s visited with Morgan and Pepper and Happy, so he’s not alone. But it’s not enough. Tony didn’t grieve for five years to just _not get to see_ his kid.

Once Saturday rolls around, Tony spends the whole day staring at the door. It’s not a school day, and he knows Peter was invited to come. Tony is able to stay awake for hours at a time now. He should be released from the hospital in a matter of days. If Peter hasn’t come by then, he’s going to go to Queens himself and break down the Parker’s door. (And then he’ll buy May a new one).

Luckily it doesn’t come to that, because the door to his room opens at 1:15 in the afternoon and Peter shuffles in awkwardly. Tony can see May outside, almost pushing him through before she shuts the door behind him.

Tony feels like it’s the first time he’s breathed in weeks. “Finally,” he says casually, hoping that light-heartedness will keep Peter from running. “‘Bout time we saw your face around here.”

Peter fiddles with the strap of his backpack. “Yeah, um. S-school’s been crazy. They’re trying to figure out what to do with their enrollment suddenly doubled. Apparently, the answer is to load us down with work so we can catch up to what everyone else has already learned this year.”

“Well, that’s dumb,” he comments. “Bet you’re killing it, though.” He motions to the chair beside his bed, hoping Peter will take it. After a brief hesitation, he does.

Peter puts his backpack on the ground, but won’t lean back on the chair. He clears his throat and asks Tony, “How are you feeling?”

“Better all the time, kid,” he replies with what he hopes is a reassuring smile. “The pain get less everyday. Should be cleared to go home real soon.”

“Good,” Peter nods. “That’s good.”

Tony hates how surface level this conversation is, but at least Peter’s talking to him. He decides to go with it. “How about you? You been doing okay?” He tries not to make it sound like he’s prodding.

“Y-yeah, yeah.” Peter shifts in his seat. “It’s good. All good. Everything’s good.” He doesn’t elaborate.

His lack of incessant babbling is troubling. Tony’s chest constricts. He must have really done something to upset Peter for him to be acting this way. This isn’t the reunion he’d dreamed of. “Peter,” he says, voice low. “Whatever it is, I’m sorry.”

The boy looks at him with round eyes. “What?”

Tony gestures to Peter’s head. “Whatever’s going on in the big brain of yours, it’s not ‘good.’ Something is obviously wrong. If it’s anything I did, I’m sorry. Maybe if you tell me what it is, I can fix it.”

Peter shakes his head quickly. “No! You didn’t do anything. Seriously, Mr. Stark, I’m—”

“If you say ‘good,’ I’m gonna lose it.”

“I’m...fine?”

Tony rubs his hand down his face with a sigh. “Is it this?” he asks, shrugging his right shoulder so that the empty sleeve below it moves. “Is this upsetting you?”

Peter’s eyes go even wider. “No, Mr. Stark! I don’t mind that at all! I mean, it sucks that that happened and I hate that you’re in pain and have to live without your arm now, but it doesn’t bother me!”

Tony scrutinizes him. He hasn’t made a move to bolt yet, so that’s a good sign. “You gonna make me keep guessing?”

Peter drops his eyes, his hands in his lap. “It’s stupid,” he mumbles.

“If it’s something that’s troubling you, then it’s obviously not stupid. Now c’mon, spill it.”

Peter picks at a hangnail on his thumb, refusing to look up. Tony debates whether to keep asking questions or stay quiet and let the silence pressure him. He decides to take Pepper’s advice wait for the kid to talk first.

Two ridiculously long minutes drag by before Peter mutters, “I’m just...trying to get used to not having you around.”

Well, that makes no sense. Tony frowns, cocking his head. “You know I’m recovering, right? I’m not going to die.”

“I know,” Peter answers. He chews on his lower lip. “It’s just...you have your own kid now. You don’t need me anymore. I’m still working on accepting that.”

The words twist in Tony’s gut like a knife. “Peter—”

“And I don’t want you to think that I don’t love Morgan!” Peter says quickly. He still won’t look up. “She’s perfect and adorable and so much like you. She’s everything you deserve. She’s gonna change the world someday, I just know it. But…” He pushes the heels of his hands into his eye sockets angrily as though trying to stop tears from forming. “B-but...you had her just as soon as you could after I died. Like, I died and then you moved on immediately and replaced me and it’s so stupid that I even feel like that! I don’t have any right to feel like that! Because you’re not my dad, you’re Morgan’s, so of course she deserves to have you and I don’t, and I just need to accept that.”

Tony’s paternal instincts are kicking into overdrive. Years ago, a crying child would have made him uncomfortable, but now he’s so used to it that he immediately reaches to try and get a hold of Peter. But the spiderling must sense him coming, because he shies away.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Stark,” he cries, his voice unsteady. “I shouldn’t have said any of that. Please just forget it. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Peter, _stop_ ,” Tony demands. Those two words out of Peter Parker’s mouth send his heart pounding and he can see red dirt under his fingernails and taste ash on his tongue. “God, kid, come here.” Peter finally lets him place a hand on his arm. But that’s not nearly good enough for Tony.

“No, come all the way here.” He tugs on the boy’s arm, trying to pull him toward himself. Peter finally looks at him briefly with red eyes before moving to sit lightly on the reclined hospital bed beside Tony. He’s still trying to keep his distance. “Nope. C’mon.” He puts his arm behind Peter’s shoulders and tugs him close so that he has no choice but to tuck into his mentor’s side. Peter seems uncertain with the position. Tony regrets that he was never this physically affectionate with him before. Morgan was the one to finally break down Tony’s walls and teach him how easy it was to show your child you love them.

“Okay,” Tony begins, “first of all, you should know that Morgan wasn’t planned. She was a welcome surprise. Second, if you think I didn’t spend every goddamn day for the past five years having flashbacks about how I lost you and regretting everything I did that led up to that point, you’re dead wrong. You’re the only reason everyone is back. You’re what inspired me to figure it out. If there was even a slight chance that I could get you back, I had to take it.”

Peter relaxes against him. He waits for him to continue, finally looking up at him.

“And lastly—and I probably should have led with this—you may not be my son biologically, but you are in every other way. Morgan’s already decided that you’re her big brother, so you’re just going to have to deal with that.”

Peter huffs out a small laugh and buries his face in Tony’s shoulder. Tony rubs his hand up and down his arm comfortingly. “I love you, kid. I’m done spending years regretting that I never told you that.”

“‘S okay,” Peter says, his voice muffled. “I knew. Love you too.”

Tony feels the same warmth overtake his chest that always comes when Morgan says she loves him. It never gets old. “Good. So let’s stop with all this abandonment nonsense, alright? As long as May’s still willing to share you, you’re going to be in my life whether you like it or not.”

He can feel Peter smile against him as he nods. They sit for a few minutes in comfortable silence. This is the kind of moment Tony would never take for granted again. Another thought occurs to him and he says, “I’m proud of you, by the way. You needed validation and you were brave enough to ask for it. That already makes you more emotionally mature than me.”

Peter looks at him with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “I mean, that’s not very hard to do.”

“You are the absolute worst.”

“You love me though.”

“Yeah. I do. ...Tons and tons.”

 

The greatest day of Tony’s life is probably the day he comes home from the hospital and gets to see Peter and Morgan in the same room. Tony and Pepper had decided not to bring Morgan to the hospital where the four-year-old would have to see her dad missing an arm, scarred, and hooked up to wires. It means they’ve been apart for a month, but when Tony comes through his front door, he knows it was the right decision.

Peter and May had been staying at home with Morgan while Pepper went to bring her husband home. Morgan has been told that her father is now missing his right arm, but Tony’s not sure how much she really understood it. She eyes are wide and scared as she watches her parents enter the house. Peter has knelt down to her level and Morgan is clinging to him uncertainty.

“Look, Morgan,” he says to her gently as he points at Tony. “Dad’s home! You wanna go see your dad?”

Morgan leans further into Peter, uncertain. She’s eyeing the space where Tony’s arm should be. He can imagine how off-putting it must be for her. He also squats down so that he’s less threatening. “Hey, Pepperony,” he says softly. “I missed you three thousand.”

A tentative smile breaks across her lips at hearing his voice. She steps forward until she’s right in front of his face. After a few seconds of staring at him, she must find what she’s looking for, because she throws her little arms around his neck. Tony wraps his arm around her, breathing in the scent of her strawberry children’s shampoo. God, he missed that smell.

Morgan pulls back and starts tugging on his shirt excitedly. “Daddy! Did you see? Peter’s here!”

Tony grins. “I know he is! What do you think of him?”

“I love him five thousand!”

Pepper and May burst out laughing. Tony taps his ear and blinks as though he’s misheard her. “ _Excuse_ me? You love him five thousand but you only love your father three?!”

Morgan rolls her eyes and it’s such a Stark thing to do that Tony laughs too. “Daaad,” she drawls. “Peter’s special!” She says it like it’s the most obviously thing in the world. “‘Cause he used to only be a picture, but now he’s real!”

The room goes quiet. Peter gives him a questioning look, but Tony just smiles. For once, the lump in his throat is from happiness. “I guess you’re right.”

She skips back over to Peter, who scoops her up with a flourish. The sight of his son holding his daughter, something he never expected to see, is so precious that Tony gives in to the sappiness brewing in his chest. He stands and wraps his arm around both of them at once (and yeah he needs to get to work on that prosthetic; he wants to be able to do this better). In the moment where they’re all huddled together, content, Pepper snaps a photo.

It becomes the new favorite picture in the Stark house. It’s framed and hung in the living room right next to Morgan’s drawing.

**Author's Note:**

> One of the best things about Endgame was that we finally got confirmation that Tony is an amazing dad. It was hard to see him being very affectionate with Peter before, but now that he has his own child and clearly showers her with love, I think it would come more naturally to him. It's criminal that we didn't get to see much of that on screen, so I had to write this to feel satisfied. Thank you for reading!


End file.
